“Sweetheart, I’m sorry.” I wrapped myself around her and pulled her in for a kiss. She pulled back.
“I’m leaving. I hope you figure out whatever is going on with you.” She turned to leave, pulling away from me. “I won’t be going to the club tonight.”
Before I could respond, she walked out of the office. Part of me knew I probably should have turned and gone after her, but I didn’t. I walked back to my office and sat in my chair. I pulled up a few things on my computer, wondering what the fuck Aiden had got himself into that he would go to Kelsey for help, yet not tell her. Kelsey’s family had connections - I knew from experience. Her father’s security team was the only one that had my contact information being they are the ones that changed it.
The security business was actually situated under Devoured’s business entity - with Lucas and Marcus being named as the “owners”, although I actually owned it. Lucas had done the same thing with Devoured while he was teaching at Harvard. We all ran our own businesses, but due to certain circumstances - -we hid our identities. According to the world, I personally didn’t exist. My condo was in Lucas’s name, although I paid the mortgage, all the cell phones and technology, credit cards, bills - everything that was related to the security business that I financed and owned, was ran through LMD Holdings, Inc, which had Lucas and Marcus as its listed principals. So, according to the governments of both countries - I had disappeared.
It had worked up until now, and now I needed to go back to London and face my own past; to save Aiden’s future. A knock on my door pulled me again from my thoughts as I stared up at Marcus.
“Not you again,” I said, turning my attention to the computer in front of me.
“Well, good afternoon to you, too, darling foot.” A chuckle escaped from his lips as he took a seat in front of my desk.
I rolled my head to one side to acknowledge him. “What do you want?”
“I got another call from Kelsey.”
“What the fuck! I just got off the phone with her no less than fifteen minutes ago, and she goes and calls you?” I slammed my hands on the desk.
“Well, actually, she called me last night, but I was rather occupied.” A smile formed. “Anyway, she is pretty insistent on you calling her. But you already did.” He sat across from me, waiting - waiting for me to offer up any information as to why she would be calling us.
I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath. “Let’s say my past is colliding with my future. I have to take a trip back to London.”
“You can’t. They will realize you haven’t disappeared.” Marcus’s concern was apparent over his face, his body now leaning toward the desk.
“I don’t think I have any choice. I’ll take Kieran with me. I’ll have Sloane work up a fake identity…passport…” I trailed off. Getting to London would be more difficult than originally thought, now that I actually verbalized it all.
“I thought Thornton had handled everything?” Marcus was now wearing out the carpet in front of my desk.
“It actually doesn’t revolve around that, although the minute I go back I will have to deal with that. Fuck. What am I going to do?” I banged my head backwards against my office chair.
“Mind telling me what it is you have to deal with?” Marcus stopped pacing and turned to look at me.
“It deals with Aiden…” I let the words trail off into the air, waiting for the recognition to hit him.
“Oh, fuck….”
“Yeah, oh fuck doesn't begin to explain what is about to happen.”
“He in trouble?”
“As far as I can deduce, yeah, and a lot of it. Kelsey doesn’t even know the whole truth. He called and hung up.” I took another deep breath and shook my head. “Marc, what am I going to do? I’ll have to bring him back with me. It’s the only way I can protect him.”
“I don’t know, buddy, but whatever you need, you know Lucas and I will help.” He sat back down in the chair.
“I do know that. I do. I guess I have to make a call to Sloane.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
“Thanks, man. I’ll pick them up tomorrow.” I hung up the phone with Sloane a couple of hours later, and picked up the phone to make reservations for a flight. I’d asked him to mock up two id’s and passports, one each for Aiden and me. I reserved the one-way flight ticket under the new name, and purchased it with the credit card assigned to the club. The only thing standing in the way now was what I was going to tell Ally.
I grabbed my phone and sent her a quick text message. I need to speak with you. Meet me at the club tonight at 9.
The response was quick. I told you I wasn’t going to the club tonight. I don’t feel like talking.
Me: You will come to the club tonight, pumpkin. We need to talk.
Ally: I have work to do.
Me: Be at the club at 9. This is not a request.
Ally: FINE! UGH!
I chuckled to myself - she’d be punished for her refusal tonight. A good spanking before I left should suffice.
I sent a quick message to Kieran that he needed to be packed and ready to go for tomorrow’s departure. He was going with me as my right-hand man, since Mac was still on assignment. We were flying out at seven p.m. - which gave me time to get the passports and settle what we needed here. Marcus was going to ‘run’ what needed to be handled around the security business while I was gone.
I glanced at my watch and realized that it was already six o’clock, and I was needed at the club at seven. I shut down my computer, grabbed my laptop, iPad and phone, and headed to the club. It was expected to be a busy night.
“Sometimes I really just want to tell him to fuck off,” I screamed as I slammed my phone on the back counter of the bakery. I had gone there after leaving Devlin’s office that afternoon, not wanting to be alone. I knew Emma was working on a huge order, and Nikki was helping out as well.
“What happened?” Emma asked without losing her focus on the cake she was decorating.
“I don’t know. I told you about what he said last week at the diner, you know, about being exclusive. Then he goes and gets all weird. Mysterious phone calls, things he won’t tell me. He just seems off.” I fidgeted with a piece of paper that was on the counter.
“Well, baby cakes, you have to let him be him. Marcus said he is a very guarded person. You should know that. You’ve been with him for a while now,” Emma answered, again without taking her attention away from the project.
“I get that, but still. If he wants to be exclusive - be in a relationship - why can’t he just tell me things? I’m not going anywhere.” I continued to play with the scrap piece of paper.
“Again, Devlin has a past that most of us don’t know about. Give him time, Ally. It might be for a reason.”
“Are you going to go to the club tonight?” I asked her as Nikki walked into the kitchen.
“Why the fuck is Devlin going to London tomorrow? And why is he taking Kieran with him?” she asked.
I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I just stared at Nikki as she made her way towards me. “I don’t know what you are talking about?”
“Are you sure? He is your boyfriend?” She grabbed a tray of pastries from behind me, and began filling the shells.
“Yeah, Nik, I am sure. I can’t believe this. Why wouldn’t he say something to me earlier?” I looked at Emma, who had now stopped the decoration process on the cake to look at me. “Oh, my God. I’m a fucking idiot. No wonder he wanted to meet at the club tonight. Tell me on neutral ground.” I hit my forehead with my palm, fighting the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes.
Emma’s arms encircled my chest. “You don’t know that. Give him a chance to explain.”
“Fuck him, and fuck this relationship. I am not going to start a relationship off with secrets and lies.” I picked up my phone and rattled off a text message to him. FUCK YOU! I am done. Thanks for telling me about London today.
“I’m going home, and no,you will not
get a hold of me. I’m turning my phone off, and I will not be turning it back on,” I said, gathering my purse before I completely lost my composure.
“Ally, you know he isn’t going to respond to that very well,” Emma warned me as I headed towards the door.
“I could care less. He’s at the club tonight. So fuck him, and fuck everything else!” I slammed the back door as I left, heading to my car to go home. My phone buzzed next to me. I glanced at the screen, alerting me to the fact he had responded. I turned the phone off and threw it into my purse. Fuck him.
I got home about an hour later, stopping off to grab something for dinner, and a bottle of wine. I walked into Emma’s brownstone, the one I had shared with her up until a couple of months ago. The townhouse seemed too big for just me. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the corkscrew. I sat down at the breakfast bar, opening the take out container, and uncorked the wine. I poured myself a nice sized glass of the red Cabernet, taking the first sip, allowing it to slide down my throat. I had always admired the kitchen that Emma had designed. It was her sanctuary when she lived here, always baking or cooking something to make everyone else happy.
One of my best memories of Emma and I was right here, sitting at the breakfast bar. I had just moved in with her after our parents had died, transferring to Boston University, and was having a shitty day. Emma had just opened the bakery,and called home to make sure I’d arrived all right. I was in tears, having lost my phone, getting screamed at by a professor, and ruining a pair of my favorite shoes. (I know trivial, but it was just how the day progressed.) Emma closed the shop down early and rushed home. She made me sit at the breakfast bar while she whipped us up our favorite meal; Penne a la vodka - just the way our mom used to make it. It wasn’t much, but we ate in silence; just sitting next to each other was all the therapy we needed. It was at that moment that I had realized she was all I had left in life. We were not close to our aunts and uncles, and didn’t have any cousins. Our grandparents had passed away years earlier. It was just her and I, and now, when I needed her again - she wasn’t here. She was off living her own life with a man that loved her unconditionally. I couldn’t fault her for that.
I got up and cleared the garbage away, grabbing the bottle of wine and my glass. I climbed the stairs to the upper level, and made my way to the master bathroom - -it held the Jacuzzi tub. I began to draw myself a bath, scenting the water with lavender oil, bubbles filling the tub. I undressed and slipped into the warm liquid, drinking down the wine that warmed me from within. I rested my head on the ledge, and closed my eyes, thinking about what happened between Devlin and me today. Cryptic phone calls, sex on the couch in his office, and then finding out from Nikki he was going out of the country. I didn’t know which actually upset me more; the way he had acted today, or the fact he couldn’t tell me he was leaving. Then again, I didn’t give him a chance to, either;, purposely avoiding the club was not going to win me any points, and I knew if I gave in, I definitely would receive a punishment. Did I want to continue on this road? Could I continue in a relationship with him where everything was secretive? Where everything was hidden? I just didn’t know the answer.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
I must have lost track of time, slipped into a dream, because the next thing I remember was Devlin bursting through the bathroom door, pissed as hell. Rage was apparent in his face; his lips perched together, his eyes dark in color.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing, pumpkin?” He leaned his body against the vanity and crossed his arms in front of him.
“Don’t call me pumpkin.” I stood from the cold bath water and wrapped a towel around my self.
“I will call you whatever I want.” He shifted and stood up straight.
“No, you won’t. I can’t do this right now. Please leave.” I stood in front of him, a little distance back, and placed my hands on my hips.
“I’m not going anywhere. We need to talk, and your little stunt today got my attention.” He took a step towards me. I took a step back.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Devlin. If you can’t be honest with me about things, then I can’t be in a relationship with you.” Air quotes around the relationship. “Now leave.” I attempted to walk by him, but his arm circled around my waist and pulled me close to him. I could feel the tension in his body, the heat radiating from it. He was trying to control his temper, and his arousal.
He brought his mouth to my left ear. “We are going to talk, pumpkin. But first, you deserve a punishment.” He ran his hand over my ass, and a shiver went down my spine. As much as I tried to fight him, he did things to my body that I had no control over. My fucking hormones kicked into overdrive the minute he was around. It was like they could sense the pleasure I would receive.
“I said no. Don’t make me safe word, to get you to leave. By the way, I’m not your sub anymore - I’m nothing. Leave now.” I took a deep breath. Stay strong. Stay strong.
“I’m not leaving, Alexia. We need to talk.”
I pushed out of his arm, my hands hitting his sculpted chest to push myself away. “Then talk.” My hands found my hips again as I waited for him to speak.
He ran his fingers through his hair, the small amount that he had. Devlin maintained a relative ‘military’ look. Tonight, he had on his black leathers, a black t-shirt, and his leather jacket - which I assumedhe’d thrownon when he’d left the club. Devlin walked into the bedroom and sat on the bed, hanging his head low. I followed, keeping a distance between us. If I got any closer, I might lose my self-control.
“You wanted to talk, so talk.” I said, leaning against the dresser that was parallel to the bed. I let my eyes wander along the carpet in front of his feet; if I made eye contact, I would loose this battle.
“Pumpkin, can you come sit with me?” He stretched out his arms, waiting for me to put my hand into his.
“No. Talk or leave, Devlin. I am serious.” I readjusted the towel, and crossed my arms in front of me.
“Jesus, you infuriate me at times.” A low growl left his mouth as he ran both hands over the top of his head, attempting to keep calm. I might have been the submissive - who the fuck am I kidding? - I am the submissive in this relationship, but I could read his body language, I could see when he was aroused, when he was stressed, when he was attempting to remain in control.
He looked up at me. “I have to leave for London tomorrow evening. I am not sure how long I will be gone.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Why what?” he shook his head.
“Why do you have to go? I thought you left England for a reason, vowing never to return?” I was still against the dresser, although my legs felt like giving out, my head was dizzy. The thought of him leaving wasn’t settling with me, and it definitely was not in line with my new tough girl act.
“Trust me, pumpkin, if I didn’t have to go back, I wouldn’t. There are just things I can’t tell you right now. Things that I need to do, that I don’t want you involved in.”
“See, that’s what I am talking about - what I can’t do anymore. I can't have you keeping secrets from me. Not telling me things.” Tears threatened at the corner of my eyes.
“Pumpkin, I wouldn’t be keeping this from you if I didn’t think your life would be in danger.” He stood and took a step toward me, reaching out to grab my waist.
“So, you are putting your life in danger? For what, Devlin? Can’t you at least tell me what the fuck you are putting your life in danger for?” I placed my hands on his shoulders, causing his head to look up.
“A friend. That’s all I can say until I figure out what is truly going on. Alexia, I care a great deal about you. You need to know that.” His lips fused against mine, his tongue ran over my lips,urging them to open to him. My body won over my mind, my lips slowly opened and allowed him in to explore. I kissed him with a ferocity I’d never known before, a feeling that he would get hurt settling into the pit of my stomach. I pulled back, breaking the kiss.
<
br /> “Devlin, I can’t…I’m sorry…I just can’t do this right now.”
I went to pull away, but his arms tightened around me, holding me close to his body. His mouth placed feather light kisses up and down my neck and over my collarbone. I tilted my head to the side allowing him more room. A light moan escaped from my mouth as he began biting the taught skin on my shoulder. His hands ran up and down my back, moving around front to where the towel was secured just above my breasts.
“Pumpkin, you don’t truly know how you make me feel.” His fingers swiftly undid the towel, letting it fall to the floor. His mouth dipped and attached to my right breast, pulling the nipple in. My head fell back as the sensations overtook my rational thinking.
“Because you never tell me…”
“Let me show you.”
And with that he turned me around and laid me on the bed, his body hovering over mine as his eyes devoured every inch of me. He just stared for a while, as if he was letting the image burn into the recesses of his memory. I ran my hands over his chest, pulling his shirt off. He took my breast back into his mouth, his hands running up and down my chest and abdomen, the calloused fingertips contrasting the smoothness of my skin.
My body relaxed, and I fought my own thoughts. I let myself fall into the pleasures that Devlin was inflicting on me. The way his tongue flicked my erect nipple as he pulled it through his teeth, repeating the motion on the other breast. The way the heat from his mouth caused chills to run down my spine as he kissed his way up and down my abdomen. His erection pressing against my core, so and I could feel his need against me. What the fuck…one more time.
Devlin moved his head south, his breath hovering over my pussy. The heat contrasted with the building moisture. Devlin placed light kisses down the length of my slit, inhaling the musky scent of my arousal. He darted his tongue out, splitting my lips, and he lapped at the wetness he found between. The motion sent my hips bucking, my back arching off the bed. The man had a way with his tongue.
Dominate Me: A Devoured Club Novel Page 5
